Chapter 176: Forgemaster
Dark Bella replied in a playful tone, almost teasing. "You were the one who put your darkness inside her in the first place."
"It was to save her life," Bella said sharply. "But that has nothing to do with what I’m asking. Why do you remain and torment her with visions?"
The dark version chuckled, shrugging casually. "I like to play a little."
Bella gained an annoyed look. "It’s time you left. I’ll be pulling this fragment of your consciousness away from her."
The dark version laughed. "I can’t stop you. But you will kill her in the process."
Bella’s expression hardened. "Then leave yourself. It makes no sense why you’re choosing to remain there."
The dark version’s grin faded slightly. She sighed, and her tone turned serious. "I’m doing this for us."
Bella’s eyes narrowed. "What exactly are you doing? Explain it."
The dark version raised her hand playfully and said, "Nope. I don’t think I will. At least not right now."
Bella sighed in frustration, raising her right hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. She shook her head. "You say you’re me and I am you, but whatever it is you’re doing to this girl doesn’t seem like what I would do."
The dark version floated closer, reached out and cupped Bella’s cheek gently. "Oh, my love," she said softly. "Someday you will understand."
Then she pulled her hand back and added, "Moreover, if you ask me, I’m being helpful. Has the girl not reached an even better potential?"
"But you’re making her suffer for it by giving her nightmares," Bella said.
The dark version widened her hands in exasperation, then sighed. "Okay, okay, fine. I’ll stop."
She sounded almost annoyed, like someone whose fun had just been cut short. "Happy now?"
Bella stared at her for a moment, her expression serious. "Since you won’t tell me the reason why you’re doing what you’re doing. Then tell me this, and tell me honestly. Will it ever put her life in danger?"
The dark version looked her directly in the face, smiled, and said, "No."
Bella exhaled. "What if I need to save another life the same way? Would you latch onto this other person like some parasite?"
The dark version laughed. "It doesn’t work that way."
Bella stared at her for a moment longer, then let out a sigh.
"One more thing," the dark version said, her tone turning playful again. She looked almost dreamy as she brought both hands together in a pleading gesture. "Please tell me you’ll do Ethan today. I really miss him."
Bella’s expression turned flat again. "That’s my private life."
The dark version smiled. "When are you going to get it? I am you, and you’re me. I’m only voicing out what you want as well."
Bella sighed and shook her head, but said nothing more.
The void began to fade, and she felt herself being pulled back.
[Flashback Scene Ends]
—
Bella had just finished narrating everything about the entity to Ethan. She started from the beginning, explaining how she had first realized it had always been there, even as a little child.
She told him that the same entity had been the trigger for her reawakening into the Grand Class.
And then she recounted the most recent incident. The brief conversation they had just had inside Bettie’s subconscious space.
Ethan stared at her with widened eyes, unsure he could even place the image of this entity in his thoughts. "That... is a whole lot."
He paused, trying to process it all. "So this is like... an alter ego?"
Bella shrugged. "Maybe. It always says we’re the same person but refuses to reveal how. At first, I thought maybe other Grand Casters have an alternate version or something. But I think it’s just me."
Ethan sighed. "I don’t like this."
Bella gained a more worried expression.
But Ethan quickly noticed and reached out, placing his hand over her cheek gently. "I mean the hold this alternate you has on Bettie. Not about the alternate version itself."
Bella nodded, visibly relieved at the reassurance.
"I’m worried about it too," she said quietly. "But I know the visions and dreams will end now. She should be fine after today."
Ethan exhaled and nodded, then pulled her closer. Bella leaned in, resting her head on his chest.
And they both looked really thoughtful in their silence.
——
A few days later...
In the workshop at Stark Industries, Ethan floated midair before a massive structure under construction.
This structure was the aircraft , with incomplete sections waiting to be filled.
His eyes glowed with the peculiar patterns of the Eyes of the Sage, allowing him to perceive the precise measurements and structural requirements of every component.
Ethan had both hands stretched wide, and arcs of electrical charge streamed from his palms in controlled bursts, traveling down toward scattered metal panels lying on the workshop floor below.
The panels began to vibrate, then slowly lifted off the ground. They rose into the air, guided by the electric field Ethan was generating, and floated toward their designated positions on the aircraft’s frame.
His white lab coat billowed from the electric currents flowing around him. And one by one, the metal components aligned themselves perfectly, slotting into place with precision that would have required hours of manual adjustment and measurement.
But Ethan wasn’t done.
Once a panel reached its coupling point, he changed the type of charge he was producing, creating straight streaks of concentrated electrical discharge fired from his fingertips like welding lasers, and striking the seams where the metal pieces met.
He moved methodically, piece by piece, his hands conducting an invisible orchestra of metal and electricity.
Lucy and some workers, standing a few meters away on the ground, watched him with the greatest amazement of their entire life.
"It’s like I’m watching a Forgemaster," Lucy whispered, her voice filled with awe.
A Forgemaster was the title assigned to a reawakened Magi-Engineer.
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A/N: its my Last Day In Court. Phew!
Attached to this text is a generated image that fits closely to what Ethan is doing. Just incase you missed it earlier.